Hands Off
by Dlbn
Summary: Dirtying his own hands was not something Seimei Aoyagi was fond of.


Dlbn: Hey there, everyone, and welcome to a new fic!

Nbld: That's right! It's November 14th, which can only mean one thing…

Both: It's Seimei Aoyagi's birthday!

Dlbn: So in honor of this day, we are posting a Seimei-centric fic. Yay!

Disclaimer: I do not own Seimei Aoyagi or any other character, place, location, or terminology from the loveless series. That all belongs to Yun Kouga. I make NO money off of writing in this fandom.

Dedication: This is dedicated to the birthday of Seimei Aoyagi! Happy (According to his age on the Loveless wikia) 22nd birthday, Seimei! You beat me to 22 by a day less then two weeks XD

000

He'd been called many things. A devil, a demon, as mature as Satan, a psychopath, a sociopath, Beloved, brother, son…but no one really knew the full story behind the life of Aoyagi Seimei. Every action had a result, a reaction, and consequences. Every evil, inhumane act he'd ever committed came back to bite him in the rear end the day Gomon Mikado, his former friend, put a Death Warrant on his head. Septimal Moon, his organization that he worked so hard and tricked so many to get into, betrayed him. They decided that he was too evil to live, that he needed to be slain. So, of course, his natural reaction had been anger. How dare they do this to him? After all he'd done for them as Septimal Moon's tester-the unit that would test new units to see how strong they were-they had the nerve to do this? Well, of course they would pay dearly. But not by his hands, no way. Why dirty your own hands when you had such willing servants to do the dirty work for you?

000

The first job was done by Agatsuma Soubi. The plan was simple. There was a rogue unit threatening Septimal Moon's stronghold. The answer was simple. Eliminate the problem. Mikado wouldn't do it until she had more information, but it could be too late by that point. Though he was seat six, the tester, he'd assume the role of seat four; executioner. Soubi hadn't exactly taken the order very well. He had claimed that he could never hurt another being, which was a load of bullshit due to his job as a Fighter. However, Seimei had made it clear that it was an order, and that he wouldn't tolerate Soubi's refusal to follow it. Soubi had done as told in the end; using a spell to cut off the air of the Sacrifice of the unit. With the Sacrifice destroyed, the Fighter had ended up committing suicide. He had praised Soubi for his actions; more so that months went by without Septimal Moon even suspecting that the Sacrifice had been murdered. They had ruled it asphyxiation by strangulation for sexual gratification. How they'd come up with that was a mystery, but not a concern. They had decided that the Fighter had done the strangulation for his Sacrifice, but accidentally took it too far. They believed his suicide was a response to him realizing he'd killed his soul mate. That one murder only fueled Seimei's desire for death and blood.

000

Months went by with more unexplained unit deaths. All were done by orders of Seimei, but completed by Soubi. Seimei lost track of victims after about forty of them. Each one of them had gotten more sophisticated. Seimei always ordered Soubi to outdo himself; do better than the last. Simple spells of strangulation turned to complex spells of paralyzing and hypnosis. Watching Mikado and her Fighter, Fujiwara Tokino, struggle to discover cause of death of the victim Units had been pretty amusing. At every meeting, Seimei would hide his smirk behind a cool façade of a worried frown as Mikado would inform the others about her discoveries. Minami Ritsu, head of Septimal Moon, grew more and more frustrated with her lack of results. After meetings, Seimei would comfort her and tell her that Ritsu's rants and yelling were stemmed from his own inadequacies as a formed Sacrifice. But once alone at home, while his little brother was still in school, Seimei would burst into laughter. It was all too good to be true! After composing himself, he would just mark another tally for another dead Unit in his little blue book. A book that he kept hidden deep in his locker at school, and deep in his closet at home. The more deaths he caused, the more he ordered Soubi to kill, the more frustrated Septimal Moon got , the longer he went getting away with it…the better it became. But his victory couldn't last forever.

000

He could never forget the first day he met him. Sitting in a café, reading over his little blue book of plans while sipping on tea, Seimei didn't pay much attention to the world around him. However, hearing a young man arguing, rather unintelligently, with a friend of his did catch his attention. The male in question was only a little older then Seimei himself, who was fourteen at the time. His friend appeared to be even older than him. The younger of the two had stark black hair down to the small of his back, and strikingly cold chocolate eyes. His ears were flat against his head, but the splash of pink from the insides of them made them visible. He was thin and pale, looking a lot like a girl despite his slightly deepened voice. His friend was the opposite. He had curly blonde-brown hair that reached his shoulders, and bright green eyes. His face was flushed lightly from his friend's outburst, but even through the flush it was obvious that he had more color to him. He was thin as well, but not as much as the other, almost sickly looking man. Seimei perked his ears to listen to the dark haired teen.

"I'm telling you, Mimuro, it's just not fair. It's like he has something against me." The dark haired one told his friend.

"So maybe your father has something against you. Big deal." Mimuro shrugged and took a sip from his cup. "You don't like him anyway."

"I know." The other slid down in his chair. "My mother wonders why I don't come home some nights…"

"And you tell her?"

"Not the truth."

Mimuro rolled his eyes. "You're insane, Nisei. One day, your hacking is going to catch up to you."

Nisei shrugged. "I doubt it. I'm pretty good, you know. I never leave a trace." He said. "You have to realize, Sempai, that I've been doing this since I was eight years old. If I haven't been caught yet, I won't be caught any time soon."

So the younger boy was a hacker, hm? A hacker with a vulnerable side; a deep hatred for his father like Seimei's hatred for his own father. Perhaps he could be of some use? That idea led to Seimei's decision to close his little book and approach the two teens.

"Pardon." He greeted. "But I couldn't help but overhear."

Nisei leaned back and looked up at him, annoyed. Seimei saw a fire in those cold eyes that he hadn't detected from his own seat in the café. "And you decided to bother us because why now?" He wondered. "Not going to turn me in or some bullshit are you?"

"Nisei, be nice." Mimuro ordered him. "Sorry, he's not good with people."

"It would appear that you are a people, however." Seimei had smugly responded.

"Well…yes…but it took a while to get like this."  
"Mimuro, shut up." Nisei ordered his friend, sitting back up properly. "You don't need to tell strangers about my issues, you know."

"You've done a good job of doing that yourself, anyway." Seimei informed. "I doubt I'm the only one that could overhear your conversation."

Nisei glared as Seimei made his way to the side of the table. "Do you need something?" He wondered. "We were in the middle of something."

"I'm actually in need of some assistance." Seimei responded. "And from what I've heard you say about your hacking, perhaps you could assist me?"

Nisei cocked an eyebrow, his ears moving up slightly in a show of interest. "Hacking you say?" He smirked. "I may be able to assist. But you have to be aware that you should stop listening in on other people's conversations."

"Then you should learn to keep your voice down when discussing important matters in an angered state."

Nisei glared. "Touché, kid." He said.

"I'm not much younger then you." Seimei frowned. "Don't call me kid."

"I'm fifteen."

"Fourteen."

Nisei looked him up and down. "Could have fooled me. A bit on the short side, are you not?"

"I fail to see what this has to do with anything."

"Then you don't see the bigger picture." He replied. He held up a trench coat sleeve covered arm towards Seimei. "Akame Nisei."

"Aoyagi Seimei." He said. "Sorry, but I don't condone physical contact."

Nisei frowned and put his hand down on the table, picking up his cup of tea. "Sucks for anyone you end up with then." He took a sip from his tea.

As his coat sleeve slipped down, Seimei noticed something that made his blood run cold. There was a single word, printed clear as day, down Nisei's middle finger. 'Beloved'.

"What are you looking at?" Nisei wondered.

"Your name's showing, smart one." Mimuro muttered into his cup.

Nisei quickly pulled his sleeve to cover his hand completely and then grabbed his cup. "Pretend you didn't see it. It's just a bad tattoo I got once when I was drunk."

"Don't lie to me." Seimei ordered.

"Excuse me?" Nisei glared at him. "You've only known me five minutes, tops, and you're telling me what to do?"

"Only because I'm not an idiot." Seimei pulled off the black glove off of his right hand. "And assuming that I am so after five minutes is quite rude, as well." He pulled up his sleeve to expose his hand completely and turned his hand to face the two teens.

"You're…" Nisei's eyes widened. "No way. No fucking way…"  
"What are the odds?" Mimuro wondered, looking over Seimei's hand without touching it. "It looks legitimate to me." He grabbed Nisei's hand and pulled the sleeve back to expose his name again. "They look the same to me."

Nisei looked over Seimei's hand. "I think we have some business outside of my hacking." He informed, standing. He dug through his pocket and handed Mimuro a few dollars. "Thanks for the tea. I'll see you later." He looked at Seimei. "Let's go. I think we should talk." He crossed one arm across his chest and bowed. "My Sacrifice."

Seimei smirked. Just one more pawn to add to the board.

000

Gomon Mikado. She was so much like Seimei, yet so different. She rationalized that anything could be understood-any action, any word-with a mere reason. If there was a reason for something, then it was understandable. It could be explained, it made sense. Seimei thought she was a fool. Just because you had a reason, it didn't mean that made it alright. Some reasons, such as his own for killing, were awful, dreadful reasons. He befriended the girl with his superficial charm and his lies that he agreed with her. That he only needed a reason to understand and make everything alright. He played the part to a T. But a lesson needed to be taught to her. She needed to understand just how foolish and naïve she really was. And that was why Seimei took it upon himself to teach said lesson.

"Why…?" Mikado wondered. "It hurts, Seimei…why would you do such a thing?"

Trying to not let the humor he derived from the situation show, Seimei shrugged indifferently. "I don't know."

"You…don't know…?" She wondered, looking up at him with glossy green eyes. "You can't just do this and not have a reason! There has to be a reason, right? Always a reason for you and me…"

He shrugged again. "I just felt like it." He replied. He looked at his Fighter, who looked anything but happy. His jeans were covered in Mikado's blood. "Let's go, Akame."

Nisei nodded wordlessly and joined his side.

"Wait, Seimei, please!" She reached out to him. "You promised! No secretes between us, remember? No matter what we do, we always have a reason for it to rationalize it to each other."

"I just felt like it." Seimei said again.

The two of them walked away, leaving the broken and bloody girl on the ground where she sat. Once they were far enough away, Seimei let his laughter loose.

"I wish you were in your right mind right now, Akame. You would've gotten a kick out of the look on her face." He laughed.

"What was our objective, Seimei?" Nisei wondered. "Did we complete it?"

Seimei sighed. "Our objective is not your concern. But yes, we did complete it."

"Good." Nisei nodded.

Yes. Good indeed.

000

With Mikado too traumatized to even say one word to him, Seimei considered it a job well done and decided to move on with his plans. Nisei, his true fighter, was kept hidden from Soubi and everyone else involved in the fighting world. The less they knew of his existence, the better. However, in order to actually achieve anything, Seimei knew he'd need more and more assistance. He'd had Nisei hack Mikado's files on the computer to get a list of names of suspected rogues and those already on the kill lists. A Unit named Bloodless caught his eye right away. The Fighter and Sacrifice of that unit had only met a few days after he met Nisei. Their names had yet to appear, but from what he knew, they were against Septimal Moon and their hierarchy. Though the others may consider them a threat, Seimei saw them as something he could manipulate. That potential was what fueled Seimei's decision to send Nisei to kill the Fighter on behalf of Septimal Moon. Weeks passed with no suspicion. Septimal Moon got wind of their death and decided that they would give a blank to Yamamoto Hideo-the surviving Sacrifice-to replace his deceased Fighter. As the tester, it would be Seimei's decision as to who he would get. Which blank Unit would be named and molded into Hideo's perfect Fighter? Seimei had named and molded Soubi upon the younger male's request of his services years prior. He picked the best candidate to help him in his plans. He sent Yurio, a sadistic transgender male. Nisei had informed him that the switch was a success. Seimei sought out Hideo and offered his condolences, masquerading as a regular Sacrifice and not a member of Septimal Moon. Through talking to the elder male, Seimei got Hideo to agree to assist him. His ranks were increasing, and he was getting further and further away from having blood on his hands.

000

Kaido Chouma was a rather interesting member of Septimal Moon. She only joined a few weeks after Seimei had recruited Bloodless to his side. Seimei would have found her to be the perfect Sacrifice; uncaring for her Fighter's lack of existence, uncaring of anyone and anything in general, a wicked way with words, an attitude that made anything and everything seem like an order…But there was one thing that kept her from being perfect, in Seimei's eyes. A muscle deficiency in her legs caused her to collapse at any given time, with or without the warning quiver of her knees. After watching her stumble and get injured numerous times, Seimei suggested to Ritsu to use healthcare benefits given by the school to get her a wheelchair. Chouma hadn't been pleased with the idea at first, but she slowly warmed up to both the idea, and Seimei himself. She began to side with him during meetings; agreeing with most of what he said while shooting down the majority of Ritsu's ideas. Though Ritsu's ideas were useless and unfounded anyway. One didn't have to be on Seimei's side to see that. After meetings, the two of them would take a stroll around the courtyard behind the Old Schoolhouse; the school on Seven Voices Academy grounds that Septimal Moon took up residence in. They'd discuss trivial things, like who had the stupidest idea in the meeting, or what Septimal Moon's next big show of power would be. She would give him information that she overheard the others discussing, and he would make her feel special with some well thought out words. Little did either know how her information would come in handy in the months to come.

000

How could this have happened? He thought Ritsuka was still on that damn carnival ride. How could Ritsuka have gotten off on his own and followed Seimei into the shadows; where he was meeting Nisei for some last minute orders for the day. Seimei could never forget the look of utter fear on his brother's face when he turned, after hearing the younger boy squeak after hearing Seimei's kill order for Nisei.

"R-Ritsuka…" Seimei spoke in a stutter. "I-I thought you were o-on the ride…"

Ritsuka had his hands over his mouth as he shook his little head back and forth.

"Ritsuka…I-I…"

Ritsuka turned and fled.

"Damn it!" Seimei cursed. "Nisei, put him to sleep!"

"Sleep." Nisei said, extending his arm out to Ritsuka. "Bring sleep forth from the subconscious. Put the enemy into a sleep that lasts as long as the night."

Ritsuka started to stop running, instead walking slowly. Seimei ran to him, but the boy collapsed to the ground before it was too late.

Seimei got to Ritsuka's side, glad that they were still hidden in the shadows. "Ritsuka?" He wondered. "Ritsuka, are you okay?"

Ritsuka made a small noise in his sleep but didn't do anything more. Seimei sighed and picked him up, wiping the blood off the small cut on his forehead with one sleeve covered arm.

"Good work, Nisei." Seimei said. "Now get lost and do what I said to, alright? I've got a performance to put on."

Nisei nodded. "Hai, Seimei, as you wish."

Seimei didn't even bother looking to see where Nisei had gone. He carried his little brother until he found their parents.

"Is he asleep?" His father asked.

Seimei tried not to show any distain for the man, though it was boiling in his veins. "He said he was tired, so I offered to carry him." Seimei replied. "He must've fallen asleep in my arms."

"Let's go then." Their mother smiled at him. "I think it's time for everyone to get some rest."

"Yes, mother." Seimei nodded.

It wasn't until later that night, when Ritsuka awoke and didn't recognize him, that Seimei finally realized the gravity of what he had done.

000

He was fifteen years old when Chouma told him that Septimal Moon had placed a death warrant on his head. He'd been shocked. Other then what he made Nisei do to Mikado, he didn't think that they knew anything he'd done. But Chouma had said it clear as day.

"You're set to die." Chouma told him. "They're going to kill you."

"Why?" Seimei wondered. "What evidence, what reason, do they have to do such a thing?"

No way, this was not happening. They couldn't kill him; take him away from his dear little brother. They just couldn't. Seimei's features grew dark. He now knew what he had to do. All his plotting, all his planning and gathering of allies…it was all to prepare him for the final test of his true strength. These bastards would pay for this. He wouldn't let them get away with it! But first…he had to disappear…

000

The perfect way to disappear? Fake your death. The perfect victim? Armien Tusumaki. He looked like an alternate reality version of Seimei, with longer hair and blue eyes. That wasn't what drew Seimei's thoughts of murder to him, however, were that he was the true fighter to his brother. Loveless. One without love. Seventeen year old Armien was to be paired with his twelve year old brother. Seimei couldn't let that happen. There was no way another person would ever be close to his Ritsuka. _His_ Ritsuka. Not Septimal Moon's, not his mother's or father's, not stupid little school girls in Ritsuka's class, not the rest of his family's, and definitely not Armien's. So why not kill two birds with one stone? Or two problems with one Fighter…? A simple solution was a spell. But no, that wouldn't do. What would do?

"So I have to remove all his teeth and fit him with replicas of your own?" Nisei wondered.

"Yes." Seimei nodded. "Are you really that dense that I have to tell you so many times?"

Nisei flushed. "False teeth and real ones don't decompose the same way. Any coroner would know that, and…"

Seimei glared, daring him to finish that one sentence. Nisei wisely shut up and took the false teeth from Seimei's hand.

"Should I knock him out first?"

"Whatever you want."

Seimei pretended not to hear, or care, when he heard Armien's screams of pain as Nisei ripped his teeth out one by one.

000

Replacing Armien's teeth with false ones was only part one of Seimei's plan. Now he had to kill the guy before he could escape and go to Septimal Moon. Or worse, the Tokyo Police Department. The perfect plan needed a perfect end. Something that would leave nothing that the police could trace and discover that it wasn't Seimei. The dental records had to be the only thing comparable. That ruled out using spells. The only thing left? Fire. Annoyed by Nisei's refusal to burn Armien alive, Seimei used the most powerful spell he knew and was able to use, being that Sacrifices didn't typically use wordspell at all. He took Nisei's free will and forced him to do the deed. No matter how much Nisei refused when not under Seimei's influential power, he still seemed to take pleasure in the sins he was forced to commit while out of his mind.

000

Seimei's biggest mistake was sending his other Fighter, Soubi Agatsuma, to watch over and love Ritsuka. As he watched the two take pictures in the local park on the first day they met, he felt his blood run cold as he saw Soubi kiss _his_ Ritsuka. Make _his_ Ritsuka smile and laugh…and happy. That was Seimei's job and it belonged to no other! But he had ordered the love, and he had ordered Soubi to protect him, so there was nothing he could do. But that didn't stop him from picturing Soubi's tortured pleas as Seimei burned him alive for _touching_ his little brother.

000

There was no one in the world that Seimei hated more, or was confused by, more then Minami Ritsu; the head of Septimal Moon, and principal of Seven Voices Academy. Ritsu desperately wanted Soubi for himself, so why did he just hand him over to Seimei? Of course, it had been a bit of a challenge to get him to agree. But in the end, he agreed, and that was all that mattered. Seimei could never give away someone or something he cared about so much, i.e. Ritsuka, with or without a fight. And yet Ritsu had given Soubi away. And he was irritated with how Seimei decided to treat him? It wasn't his place. In a rare bout of anger that showed through his normal façade, Seimei pulled out his switchblade. Hearing Ritsu mention Ritsuka's name had made his blood boil. Without thinking, Seimei lunged at Ritsu with his knife, aiming for his dreadful eyes. Ritsu made a move to defend himself as he cried out, but it was no use. Seimei used his controlling spell to render the man helpless. From there, it was easy to pluck out the man's eyes with his knife and coat his fingers in blood. Seimei smirked as the eyeless Ritsu crumpled to the ground from blood loss. Seimei released him from the controlling spell and walked to a far wall. Using Ritsu's blood from his fingers, he scrawled a message on the wall in blood; 'Ritsuka, I'm back'.

Stepping back, Seimei admired his handiwork. He went back to Ritsu and wiped the rest of his blood on the man's shirt before standing up and shoving his hands in his coat pockets. He'd better get out of there before someone found him and Ritsu. He walked down the twisting and turning halls of Seven Voices Academy to make his way to his true destination; retrieving Chouma.

As he continued on down the halls, he smirked. Perhaps, getting your hands dirty once and a while wasn't a bad idea after all.


End file.
